Jeep Renegade caught testing in India!

Jeep is making its Indian debut at the 2016 Auto Expo with the launch of the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. But that is not all that is under their sleeve. Recently we caught the Renegade undergoing test in India. This compact SUV is being tested likely as a benchmark run for the new compact SUV that will launched sometime next year.

With the Indian market getting more and more SUV crazy, it is the perfect opportunity for Jeep who specialize in only making SUV?s to jump in and possibly grab a large chunk of market share. After the launch of the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee this year at the Auto Expo, they are planning to develop and launch a smaller SUV, similar sized or smaller to the Renegade, designed specifically for the Indian market. There are also rumors that Jeep would like to use India as a global platform for the launch of such a vehicle.

Caught testing is the Jeep?s smallest offering globally, the Renegade. It is offered with a full option 4WD and comes with a host of engines the smallest being one from Fiat. This is likely to be powered by a 1.5-litre diesel engine and even a 2.0-litre diesel is being considered. With this compact SUV, Fiat will be looking at exporting it to the other markets from India itself. The Ranjangaon plant is undergoing expansion and Fiat will be looking at adding more production to it once the new compact SUV is launched. The Ranjangaon plant will become a major export hub for the Jeep brand, while Fiat will still majorly make products for the domestic market.

Re: Jeep Renegade caught testing in India!

Good to see some movement in the right direction. On a side note, since they launching the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler which are going to be expensive I hope they look at the German rivals and offer similar or better warranties and service packages.

The last thing that FCA would want is to get a "Expensive to maintain" tag. This would really hurt the sales of the cheaper SUV's they plan to launch in the next few years. Keeping my fingers crossed that they don't botch things up.

Indians love SUV's and Jeep is all about SUV's so it should be a match made in heaven!